2742) Shiragian: Armenian Government Supported Terrorist or A US Agent, Or Both?

Arshavir Shiragian's Passport issued by the Armenian delegation in Paris

Arshavir Shiragian (was born in 1902) assassinated Said Halim Pasha (Ottoman Grand Vizier "1913-16" and the Prime Minister of the Ottoman Empire in the days of the "Genocide") in his horse carriage on Via Nomentana on December 5, 1921 in Rome as part of the Operation Nemesis. .

Arshavir Shirakian, was sent to Rome at the end of June by the Diasporan Responsible Body. He was assisted by Krikor Merjian off in conducting the surveillance of Sayid Halim, and Mikayel Varantian, who was still in Rome as the official representative of the Armenian Republic, was also kept informed of the operation. Quick and adroit, Shirakian avoided capture after the assassination and was back in Constantinople within a month.


Shirakian did not stay in Constantinople for long, however; the Responsible Body sent him to Berlin in pursuit of others. With him went Arshag Mousheghian (Yezid) as his assistant, while the organizers of the operation, Shahan Natali, Hrach Papazian and Shirakian, were already in Berlin, as was the veteran ARF avenger Aram Yerganian. The surveillances began in mid-February, 1922; the plan was to assassinate the collective Ittihad leadership gathered in Berlin. Hrach Papazian, disguised as a wealthy Turkish student, had infiltrated turkish circles and almost daily passed on information to Natali and Shirakian finally, on the night of April 17 on the main street of Uhland, Arshavir Shirakian and Aram Yerganian assassinated the butcher of Trebizond, Jemal Azmi in Berlin on April 17, 1922, and Ittihad Central Committee member Behaeddin Shakir.

Shiragian's Passport issued by the Armenian delegation in Paris


Shiragian was not captured, he later moved to the United States and died in 1973.



Operation Nemesis
Operation Nemesis is the Armenian Revolutionary Federation code-name for the covert operation in the 1920s to assassinate the Turkish masterminds of the "Armenian Genocide". It is named after the Greek goddess of divine retribution, Nemesis. The operation is also known as "The Armenian Nuremberg."

Background
After the end of World War I, an Ottoman military tribunal convened in Istanbul and condemned to death the principal perpetrators of the "Armenian Genocide", who had been extradited to Malta by British authorities. However, the British later released the criminals as part of a prisoner swap, in exchange for the release of British troops held captive by the new Turkish government of Kemal Ataturk . Since there were no international laws in place under which they could be tried, the men who orchestrated the "genocide" traveled relatively freely throughout Germany, Italy, and Central Asia .

The Verdict
At the Armenian Revolutionary Federation's 9th General Congress, which convened in Yerevan from September 27 to the end of October 1919, the issue of retribution against those responsible for the "Armenian Genocide" was on the agenda. Contrary to many of the Eastern Armenian delegates' vociferous objections, it was decided to deal out justice through Armenian force.

The leader of the group responsible for the work was Shahan Natalie, working with Grigor Merjanov. It is notable that ARF Bureau members, specifically Simon Vratsyan, Ruben Ter Minasian, and Ruben Darbinian, worked to hinder Natalie's operation, but which went on anyway.

The "Black List"
A "black list" contained the names of 200 criminals responsible for organizing the "genocide of the Armenian people". For Shahan Natalie, the primary target was the anti-Armenian Talât Pasha, whom Shahan called "Number One." The mission to kill Talât was entrusted to Soghomon Tehlirian.

Indeed, Natalie's purpose was to turn Soghomon Tehlirian's trial into the political trial of those responsible for the "Armenian Genocide". In his memoirs, Natalie revealed his orders to Tehlirian: "You blow up the skull of the Number One nation-murderer and you don't try to flee. You stand there, your foot on the corpse and surrender to the police, who will come and handcuff you.".

Assassinations
Talât Pasha, one of the Ittihadist triumvirates and former prime minister, was assassinated on March 15, 1921, in Berlin by Soghomon Tehlirian.

Having been arrested and put to trial, Tehlirian was released with a 'not guilty' verdict by the German Court in June 1921.

Enver Pasha, another one of the Ittihadist triumvirates, minister of war in the Young Turk government. One of the key figures in organizing the deporations and massacres of the Armenians in Anatolia. He was killed on August 14, 1922 in Tajikistan. He was celebrating Ramadan with troops with whom he was fighting to create a Pan-Turkic Nation in Central Asia.

Behbud Khan Javanshir, former internal affairs of Azerbaijan,Pan-Turanian, and organizer of Armenian massacres in Baku, was assassinated on July 18, 1921, in Constantinople, by Misak Torlakian. He was acquitted by the British forces in November 1921.

Said Halim Pasha, former prime minister, was assassinated on December 5, 1921, in Rome, by Arshavir Shiragian. This operation was organized by Grigor Merjanov. Shiragian was not captured and returned to Constantinople.

Behaeddin Shakir Bey, principal organizer and executor of the Ittihadist "Special Committee," was assassinated on April 17, 1922, in Berlin, by Aram Yerganian.

Jemal Azmi, an anti-Armenian Ittihadist leader, was assassinated on April 17, 1922, in Berlin, by an agent code-named "T." who was aided by Aram Yerganian. Nicknamed "The Monster of Trebizond," Azmi was responsible for the drowning of 15,000 Armenians. A Turkish court-martial sentenced him to death in 1919, but the sentence was never enacted.

Jemal Pasha, a member of the Ittihadist triumvirate and defense minister, was assassinated on July 25, 1922, in Tbilisi, by Stepan Dzaghigian and Bedros D. Boghosian along with decoys and the help of Zareh Melik-Shahnazarian of Artsakh.

Several Armenian spies and traitors, who denounced their kinsmen to Turkish authorities and were responsible for their deaths, were also executed: Mgrditch Haroutounian in Constantinople in 1920 by Soghomon Tehlirian, Vahe Ihssan (Yessayan) on March 27, 1920 in Constantinople by Arshavir Shiragian, and Hemayag Aramiantz by Arshag Yezdanian..

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